Ever: The Ever Trilogy, Book One (Volume 1) (27 page)

“Yeah. I bet.
Go inside
, Ariadne. Pack your bags like I instructed you do last night and be gone by the time we get back.”

He handed me my cup of coffee. “Good morning, Beautiful.” With his free hand, he pulled my face to his and kissed me—a bit longer and more aggressively than I would have normally allowed with an audience nearby. But this wasn’t a
normal
audience, was it?

“And get some god damned clothes on before the whole neighborhood sees you.”

I knew I was blushing when I got in the car, but that kiss was amazing, and the sour look on Ariadne’s face was priceless. Toby had obviously gone the extra mile playing up the kiss for her benefit, but hey, I sure wasn’t suffering because of it.

“Well, that was quite the ‘good morning.’”

“I’m so sorry, Ever. I don’t know what that chick is thinking most of the time.”

“I wasn’t talking about Ariadne, Toby—though she’s definitely a piece of work—I was talking about that kiss.”

My cheeks blazed red again, even though I was the one who’d said the words.

“Oh, yeah? Well, there are plenty more where that came from.”

As we pulled out of the driveway, Toby’s dad walked outside and put his arm around Ariadne’s shoulders. As he glared at me with that dark, menacing stare I’d seen before, I noticed how protectively he held Ariadne. It was almost fatherly.
Um, okay. If she’s that close with Toby’s dad, they must have been pretty serious.
My petty green monster reared its ugly head.

A few minutes later, when Toby’s tension eased a little and we were stopped at a red light, he leaned over and kissed me again, just like he had before.
This
time the performance was all for me. The kiss helped me let go of some of those feelings of jealousy I’d been having toward Ariadne.

A honk from the annoyed driver behind us ruined the moment. The light had changed.

Blushing from the heat of his kiss, I ran my hand through my hair nervously.

“Ah, there it is. I’ve missed that.”

“What?” Confused, I looked out the window, trying to locate what he was talking about.

“That.” He grabbed my hand out of my hair and brought it to his lips. “I love the way you run your hand through your hair when you’re nervous.”

“Oh.” More heat rushed to my cheeks.

“That, too.” He pointed to my cheeks, making me blush even more. “
God
I’ve missed you.”

He set my hand down on his thigh so he could shift gears, and we rode the rest of the way in happy silence. He occasionally picked my hand up to kiss my palm before setting it back to its resting spot on his leg. I was happier than I had been since my dad’s death, the past month of being without Toby—and its cause—a distant memory.

We were driving down Ball Road, and I was about to ask him where we were headed, when he turned into the Disneyland parking structure. I was almost jumping up and down like a little kid by the time we parked and walked to the gate. I hadn’t been to Disneyland in
years
. A big part of my childhood, Disneyland reminded me of all that I’d lost recently. Memories of my dad flooded my mind, and I felt a strong sense of longing at the thought of him. Shaking my head, I tucked the memories and sadness away. Dad would want me to have fun.

Once inside the park, I threw my arms around Toby’s neck, kissing him and thanking him profusely. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

He laughed, kissed me back, then slowly removed my arms from their chokehold around his neck. He turned me around so my back pressed up against his chest, put his arms around my waist, and whispered in my ear.

“Happy Birthday, love.”

“What? How did you—?”

He placed one hand on my jaw and turned my face to the side, where I saw Jessie and Greg approaching.

“Oh my God!”

I tore away from Toby and ran to Jessie. She was wearing a brand new, bright pink Minnie Mouse t-shirt that was about three sizes too small—which was doing remarkable things for her figure. Only Jessie could pull off sexy while wearing a little kid’s shirt. She grinned from ear to ear. Greg had one of those strange, tense expressions again as he approached us. I looked at Toby and saw that his smile was a bit forced now that Greg was there.
What is the deal with these two?
I knew I had to get to the bottom of it, but now wasn’t the time.
Later,
I told myself. For now, I was just going to enjoy today. My birthday.

“Happy Birthday, Ever!” Jessie threw her arms around me, lifting me up in the air an inch or two off the ground. “Are you surprised?”

“Um, yeah, I think it’s pretty safe to say I’m surprised! When did you guys plan this?”

“Oh, you’ll never believe it! Toby here was at Greg’s door at seven this morning! He told us all about what a
huge
mistake this past month has been. I told you he’d regret that! Then he told us what a huge
bitch
that chick from last night is—the understatement of the year—and well, I might have let it slip that it was your birthday, and”—she waved her arms out to show our surroundings—”here we are!”

“This is perfect, you guys!”

“You’re not mad? I know you’d mentioned not wanting to celebrate this year … .”

“No, Jess, this is perfect. Honestly.” I squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Greg picked me up in a huge bear hug, a genuine smile on his face as he wished me Happy Birthday. He took Jessie’s hand and said, “Well, Ev, you’re the birthday girl; lead the way.”

The park was crowded, it being a Saturday in the middle of summer, but we grabbed Fast Passes as often as possible, which helped us bypass some of the worst of the lines, and somehow, we managed to get onto just about all of my favorite rides.

When we were somewhat alone in the Haunted Mansion, concealed by the walls of our buggy seat, Toby pulled me close to him and kissed me. I felt that same amazing buzzing feeling I always felt with him, and I once again thanked my lucky stars that he was back in my life and that he was
mine
. I couldn’t fight the grin slowly pulling at my lips.

“What are you smiling about?” He leaned back a few inches from my face, trying to see me in the darkness of the ride.

“I’m just glad you’re back.”

“I should have never left. I love you, Ever. I won’t leave you again.”

I kissed him again, unable to return his words. Something in me held back. I hoped he didn’t realize I hadn’t said it back to him. I just wasn’t ready yet.

And no one needed to know my heart was torn.

When we came to the last part of the ride, and a ghostly apparition was projected into our buggy, I couldn’t help but think of Frankie again. Well, truth be told, I had thought of him quite a few times during the ride—the irony of its theme not lost on me.

As right as I felt when I was with Toby, and as happy as I was that he was back, I wondered if the part of me that loved Frankie would ever be able to truly love Toby.

If not, would I ever be completely happy?

I didn’t have long to ponder that question before Toby grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the moving platform, Jessie and Greg following behind us. We exited the ride, quickly moving to the next, only stopping to listen to a jazz band in New Orleans Square.

As far as birthdays go, it turned out to be one of my better ones. I had a blast; though, spending the day at Disneyland had its bittersweet moments as well. At one point, I was struck with emotion when I saw a little girl on her daddy’s shoulders. They were so happy, and I couldn’t help but think about my dad and all the times he’d taken me to Disneyland in my childhood.

But I knew life would always have those bittersweet moments now that my dad was gone, and I had to get through them without falling apart. With a reassuring squeeze of my hand, I was reminded now that I had Toby back, I’d be okay.

After a long and exhausting day at the park, followed by dinner at a bread company in Downtown Disney, we pulled into Toby’s driveway around eight. Jessie planned on spending the night at my house, so she and Greg followed behind us in Greg’s ridiculous yellow hummer, parking at the curb.

The windows revealed the inside of my house was dark, so I figured my mom was either feeling depressed again and hiding away from the world under the covers in her bedroom, or she was down the street at Sharon’s. I knew my mom’s decision to snap out of it would take time, and I could be patient with her for as long as she needed. I had only known Toby for a short time when we’d broken up, and I had been devastated without him—I couldn’t imagine what my mom must have felt after losing her soul mate.

Toby and Greg parked the cars and walked Jess and me to the door to say goodnight. I barely had the key in the lock when my mom threw open the door and yelled “Surprise!”

Oh no.

She hadn’t done anything like this since my tenth birthday, and that time I’d been just as thrilled.

N
ow, when I said ‘surprise party’ I mean some colorful balloons, a few streamers here and there, and my mom standing in the middle of the living room with her friends, Sharon and Bonnie. I was willing to bet I could blame one of them for this little idea.

Except that I already knew who to blame.

“Jessie.”

“Don’t be mad, Ever. It wasn’t me, I swear.”

With Toby’s hand in mine, I walked into my house, bracing myself for whatever was in store. If I was lucky, it would all be over shortly so I could get to bed. If they were lucky, I’d somehow manage to stay awake for the whole thing.

When the door closed though, I knew I was wrong: there would be absolutely
no
luck tonight. Toby’s hand tightened around mine as our eyes simultaneously took in the other person in attendance. Off to the side of the room, previously blocked by the open front door, stood—

“What in God’s name is
she
doing here?” Jessie practically spat the words into my ear.

Ariadne was in my living room. Inside
my
house.

“Oh, honey, are you surprised? Come in. Come in! Hey, Jessie! How was your day? Did you kids have a nice time? What did you go on … ?” My mom rambled on and on, more animated than I’d seen her in a long time. Either she had really taken recovery to a whole new level, or she’d completely lost her mind. I didn’t know what to say.

Yes. I am definitely very surprised.

I just stared at Ariadne, our eyes locked in a battle that would make even the best staring contest champions jealous.

All four of us stood in the open doorway. I didn’t know if they were all as tense as I was, but I was completely shocked, and my body was rigid.

What the hell is Ariadne doing in my house?

“… and this is … well, Toby, you already know her, obviously, but, Ever … Ev? Honey? Come in! Why are you still standing by the door?”

My mom walked over, ushering us inside so she could close the front door behind us.

“Did you hear me, honey? This is Toby’s—what did you say you were? Cousins, right?—Aree—I’m sorry sweetheart, how do you pronounce your name again?”

“
Air-ee-add-knee
,” she said, pronouncing each syllable clearly for my Mom but never taking her eyes off me. Her grin was wicked at best.

Mom went to stand next to her, and the uncanny resemblance between the two of them struck me. Something wasn’t right.

“Oh, yes, that’s right; I’ll get it. Did I tell you what a beautiful name that is? Ever? Why don’t you sit down? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” She giggled then, realizing the irony of her statement.

I wasn’t laughing.

Toby snapped out of his shock before I did and managed to pull me over to the couch. I plopped down, and he sat down beside me, never letting go of his death grip on my hand.

Jessie and Greg sat down on the loveseat across from us, and though Greg looked tense—again making me question if there was any coincidence I was missing here—Jessie looked downright evil. She was not pleased to see Ariadne in my house, and man oh man, if looks could kill.

“Jessie? Want to help me with the cake?” Jessie tore her eyes from Ariadne and reluctantly followed my mom, Sharon, and Bonnie to the kitchen, shooting an accusatory glance at Toby on her way.

I looked over at him and whispered, “What the
hell
is going on here?”

He shook his head, his eyes dark with anger. A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” He looked at Ariadne, disdain in his eyes.

“What the
hell
is this, Ariadne?”

Ariadne hadn’t moved from her spot in the corner yet, but when Toby addressed her, she smiled a sly, sultry smile, and slowly walked toward us. She had on a black mini dress—if you could call it a dress—with an overlay of black sheer fabric hanging to the floor.
She didn’t have to get dressed up on my account.
The sheer fabric caressed every curve of her body as she walked, and she took her time, deliberately giving Toby and Greg a show. As she approached, I saw the tip of a tattoo sticking out above her low-cut dress, thick black lines that were strangely familiar. I tensed up even more, reaching into the back of my mind for the bit of information I was having trouble grasping. Toby put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him in response to her approach. There was something about her tattoo… .